Golfing tee



May 22, 1928. 1,670,627

W. LOWELL GOLFING TEE F iled Dec. 7. 1925 EW- 1 INVEN TOR. W/LL/HM LOWELL,

Q bKW' R ATTORNEY.

Patented May 22, 1928.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM PATENT OFFICE.

LOWELL, OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE NIEIBLO MFG. CO. INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GOLFING TEE.

Application filed December 7, 1925. Serial No. 73,842.

This invention comprises a golf tee, which can be readily made as a small, cheap, most serviceablearticle to entirely displace the use of molding damp sand by hand to form a small mound to support a golf ball. 7

My invention in one of its orginal forms consisted of such an article to take the place of the usual practice before my invention, of building up with sand or suitable soil locally 1 available at a golf teeing ground, and among the objects of my invention were to produce such an article simple in construction so cheaply made that it could be discarded, or could be reused if desired, but in particular an article that could be placed in the ground as desired and amply support a golf ball in a position for driving it 1n flight, but having the support such as to preclude interference or any diverting of the flight at the time' of impact of the golf club when striking it. Among the further objects were to provide such an article so small in size as to be readily handled and so light in weight that a stroke with a golf club would not drive the article in a way to endanger any one by impact, and so small and compact as to involve no objectionable characteristics when left on the ground, by interference with lawn mowers, or otherwise, and still an article that under any circumstances would offer no resistance to the flight of the ball,

and no resistance to the momentum of the club, nor deflect the head of a golf club if accidentally engaging the tee, but, on the contrary, would be moved by the club with no eflfect upon the feeling or aim or quality of stroke of the player.

Meeting all of these qualifications for practical use, the essential features of which are shown and described in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a tee.

Fig. 2 is a to view.

Fig. 3 is a si e elevation.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view.

Figs. 5 and 6 are side views on a small scale of tee and supported ball with a driver club head in relation thereto approaching impact to illustrate two extreme conditions of functioning. e

i This golfing tee which I have called a peg tee, comprises essentially, in the form illustrated, a wooden body A and a head B secured to the wooden body. The head B is made of gutta percha secured to the wooden body A, but having the upper side of the, head concave to such an extent that a recess isformed with a peripheral rim adapted to give a support for a golf ball of suflicient extent to hold the ball steady under all of the normal conditions for the intended use of my peg tee.

The body portion of the tee A in the form shown, comprises a shank C which asoriginally made was tapered terminating with a more abruptly converging end D, with a dull point E. The head B of gutta percha was secured to the top of thebody A, and with. the formation of the gutta percha head part of that material flowed over the edge or sides of the head A, as shown at 7), adding to the more effective securing of the gutta percha to the body portion by unitin the two pieces of the article'in addition to t e cementing of the surface contact directly between the two parts.

In some of the tees so made the upper end of the body portion A spread out to an enlarged upper end A, as shown, thereby providing a more extended surface for union with the head portion B. While this provideda relatively thin edge a at, the top of the body portion, the overhanging gutta percha at 7) served in part to prevent accidental chipping of the material, namely, the wood of the shank.

The shank C is made of wood and referably light, tough wood not apt to split, and the head of guttaperchamay be of any material of the same advantageous characteristics, and preferably such as is capable of molding in order that the heads may be made of definite dimensions and readily fitted to the stem or body portion in ways simple and convenient for quantity production, and also to provide a suitable union of the parts of the article in a way assuring its rigidity as a unit during the necessary manipulation when pushing the tee into the g'rplund for the proper support of a golf I have found that by producing such an article itcan be readily pressed into the ground when of a size approximating onequarter or one-fifth of the diameter-of the superposed golfbal l, so that such a diameter of the head of the tee provides a proper support, and at the same time is .entirel invisible from the view; oint .of the p ayer when addressing the ba; -l, and therefore appears to hold theball .in air without any visual'diversion of the player in the usual practice of aiming and driving in the play of the game. As the shank supporting the .clined from the vertical, presenting a condition when the wind is blowing in the direction of the arrow, as shown, so that with the relatively small head, compared with diameter of the tee, my pegtee is capable of adjustment of position to assure a steady support of the ball, and at the same time the tee. remains invisible below the ball. Likewise in Fig. 6, the ball F is supported on a peg tee with its axis slightly inclined away from the approach of the driving club head, under a condition with the wind blowing, as shown by the arrow, assuring a steady support because of the capacity of adjustment of the peg tee in desired slight inclination. It will be seen, from both of these figures, that the head of the tee when inclinedforthe purpose of ensuring steady support as in a wind, is relatively so small com ared with the ball that the rim of the heat in no way interferes with the flight of the ball upon impact by the head of the club, nor does it interfere with the carry-through of the club which invariably is part of the stroke with a driver club. However, the head of the tee is of a considerable extent and rovidesan ample base for steady support of the ball, and, on the other hand, is reduced in size immediately below the head so as to form a relatively small stem so it will penetrate the ground very easily to any extent desired. The small stem in conjunction with the much larger diameter head thus combines a perfect support for the ball, with ,the relatively sharp small end of the tee serving for easy penetration of the ground between grass roots, and with greatest facility allows any desired manipulation to find a ready bearing in the ground on a teeing space to give necessary lateral support. At the same time this support of the stem while laterally ample to steadily hold the weight of a ball, susceptible of slight -inclinationto ofiset wind pressure, is combined with such a short penetration of the round, that it offers no resistance to the ateral force in the order of impact of a golf club striking the ball. If by mischance a club hooks the head of the tee, the thin stem engagement with the ground likewise ofl'ers no lateral resistance, so that the eg tee is dislodged without the slightest e ectbeing felt by the player, and therefore there is no fear on the part of the player of any chance that tee impact would jar his grip, and consequently it does not in the slightest divert him from the proper concentration of mind on the aim, strength and character of his stroke.

Thus the tee with the constricted and small ground penetrating stem and the head extended laterally close to the broadened bearing for contact with the ball, due to its wide supporting brim, meets the most exacting requirements for the purpose of this invention. Made of wood, the body portion is very light while still offering ample support with the easy penetration of a small pointed stem, and may be made ofclight wood with ample strength for practical quantity production, still effecting a proper support of the ball by the spreading head immediately adjacent the ball contact. When the head is made as a cap of gutta percha or like material, it provides a stiif rim not liable to split or chip, and while the material may be readily formed it provides a stiff rim for ball engagement within all limits of the weight to be normally sup ported. In additionto this it is readily handled and pressed into the ground and adjusted Without chance of breakage, while the head constitutes a handle for manipulation obviating any necessity of contact of the players fingers with the ground. Thus, in generahmy peg tee provides "means for more perfect support and adjustment of support of the golf ball, without the necessity of manipulating sand or earth to form the old fashioned tee, therefore avoiding entirely the soiling of the hands besides efi'ecting great saving of time as compared with the molding of a tee. These advantages result in cleanliness, accuracy and the saving of time in the playing of the game, when drivin ofl' inthe play of golf, or teeing-up the ba 1 at any time desired.

My invention may be variously embodied, other than the particular-form which has herein been shown and described, but

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: A golf tee comprising a stem having a tapering point at one end and an enlarged portion at the other end, a head formed of relatively non-chipping material at the upper end and having a cupped upper surface with a peripheral ball-supporting rim, and downwardly extending peripheral sides on the head to engage the peripheryof the enlarged portion of the stem, said head and stem being axially united to form a unit article with the head rigidly supported .when the stem is pressed into the ground.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this application this 24th day of October, 1925.

' WILLIAM LOWELL. 

